Yes, from start to finish, he was a pervert.
No matter what reasons or excuses he used, the facts wouldn't change in the slightest.
[After all this time, this dude finally accept it.... i thought it was because of the systemđ]Â
It was precisely because of this that Kaoru Mitoma agreed to the wish-granting machine, becoming the producer for the idols and eventually ending up at ANHS.
At this moment, Kei Karuizawa simply looked at him in confusion.
"You're going to help me?"
There was a hint of surprise in the girl's eyes, but also a trace of doubt.
Kaoru Mitoma wasn't a student of Class D and the two of them had no prior interaction.
Why would he help her?
Even if Kaoru Mitoma wanted to help, how exactly would he do it?
"Because I'm curious about your situation," Kaoru Mitoma paused, "But first, I need to know what's going on between you."
Kei Karuizawa gaze began to wander and she feigned ignorance as she replied, "Didn't I already say it? They want me to kneel and apologize, threatening to teach me a lesson if I don't."
"Why should you kneel and apologize?" Kaoru Mitoma continued to ask.
Kei Karuizawa whispered, "Probably because they hate me. They even wanted to ruin my face."
Kaoru Mitoma calmly gazed into her eyes and said, "You're afraid of Ibuki-san. Even though she's small, she looks tough, and you don't dare to provoke her. The same goes for Manabe-san. So, it was either Ibuki-san or Manabe-san who approached you first."
His gaze was so sharp that Kei Karuizawa couldn't help but avert her eyes.
"It was them who approached me first. I'm really troubled by this!"
"But they wouldn't cause trouble for no reason," Kaoru Mitoma said.
"Did you accidentally offend them somewhere? Did you talk behind their backs? Did you steal someone's boyfriend?"
"I just accidentally knocked over one of their friends!"
As soon as the words left her mouth, Kei Karuizawa immediately regretted itâshe had spoken too loudly.
Kaoru Mitoma sighed, he already knew what had happened.
"Actually, I had no choice. There were other people present at the time, and I couldn't apologize to Class C in front of Shinohara and the others. I had to run away quickly," Kei Karuizawa tried to explain her actions and shift the blame.
"Why couldn't you apologize?" Kaoru Mitoma found her reasoning strange.
"B-because it would... make me seem weak..." Kei Karuizawa bit her lip. "I don't want people to think I'm easy to bully anymore. I don't want to be weak."
Was there a past she didn't want to revisit?
Butâ
"Because you don't want to be bullied, you decide to bully others?" Kaoru Mitoma said quietly.
"Has anyone ever told you that this is wrong?"
In an instant, Kei Karuizawa's expression turned panicked.
"N-no, I just wanted to protect myself..."
However, Kaoru Mitoma interrupted her.
"In the past, you must have hated people like this too, right? Because you were easy to bully, they took advantage of you. No matter how you explained or tried to get along with them, they wouldn't understand or sympathize with you. Instead, they would treat you even worse."
"At first, it might have been a joke, but it slowly turned into bullying. From one or two people to collective bullying. Your shoes would be stolen, your recorder hidden, your backpack rummaged through, your desk covered in graffiti.
You'd be forced to kneel in the bathroom, your uniform ruined. Sometimes you'd be yelled at, sometimes hit. You didn't dare tell your parents or the school. Everyone turned a blind eye."
"Anger, frustration, despair, numbness, escape. You didn't want to see them anymore. You even prayed in your heart for it all to end quickly, cursing them to hell..."
Before Kaoru Mitoma could finish, Kei Karuizawa suddenly pushed him and shouted loudly.
"Enough! Stop talking!"
The girl's expression had completely changed.
There was no trace of pride or confidence leftâonly fear and confusion.
Tears welled up in her eyes, likely recalling past events.
"Although I don't know what happened to you in the past, wanting to become the kind of person you once hated isn't a bad thing," Kaoru Mitoma thought for a moment.
"But I don't think you can do it because you're not suited for that role."
At this moment, Karuizawa Kei's thoughts were in disarray.
She hadn't expected that someone could see through her past with just a few words, completely stripping away the softest part of her heart and exposing it entirely.
In front of Kaoru Mitoma, she felt as if she were naked and she couldn't help but feel a bit scared.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" she asked, slightly out of breath, her breathing rapid, like a fish suddenly jumping onto the shore.
She felt utterly powerless, her face pale.
"Just as I said before, I'll help you solve your problem. In return, I'm very interested in you, so I want to experiment with some ideas on you."
"Experiment on me?"
"That's right. I want to touch your chest."
"So that's it... Wait, what did you say!?"
At first, she was a bit confused, but Karuizawa quickly realized what he meant.
She hurriedly covered her chest, flustered and tried to back away, only to accidentally bump into a corner.
Seeing Kaoru Mitoma so close, her entire body froze.
She suddenly realized there was nowhere to escape.
"Is your target my body?"
"You could say that, but if you don't want to, I won't force you."
Karuizawa was stunned.
He wasn't planning to assault her here?
Then, Kaoru Mitoma added, "Either step on me with stockings or let me see what's underneath your skirt. I don't mind either."
Karuizawa eyes widened slightly.
What kind of perverted requests were these?
"Are you threatening me?"
"It's not a threat. If you hate it, you don't have to do it. I said I'll forget about today's events, so you don't have to worry about me telling others," Kaoru Mitoma said softly. "However, you'll have to figure out how to deal with Manabe and the others on your own."
"Gulp..."
Karuizawa bit her lip tightly.
No matter how unwilling she was in her heart, it seemed she had no choice but to agree to this guy demands.
Because she absolutely had to maintain her outward personaâa strong, assertive girl who wouldn't bow down to a few delinquent girls.
Otherwise, her status in the class would also decline.
And on her own, she simply couldn't handle this.
That's why Karuizawa had asked Hirata to pretend to be in a relationship with her, hoping he would protect her and solve her problems.
But now, she couldn't rely on Hirata.
Unless she found another protector, she would have to face Manabe Shiho and the other delinquent girls alone.
"J-Just a touch, right?"
As soon as she said this, Karuizawa knew there was no turning back.
Her face flushed red and she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze.
------------------------------
Read 40 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator